Sequence-selective DNA detection has become increasingly important as scientists unravel the genetic basis of disease and use this new information to improve medical diagnosis and treatment. DNA hybridization tests on oligonucleotide-modified substrates are commonly used to detect the presence of specific DNA sequences in solution. The developing promise of combinatorial DNA arrays for probing genetic information illustrates the importance of these heterogeneous sequence assays to future science.
Typically, the samples are placed on or in a substrate material that facilitates the hybridization test. These materials can be glass or polymer microscope slides or glass or polymer microtiter plates. In most assays, the hybridization of fluorophore-labeled targets to surface bound probes is monitored by fluorescence microscopy or densitometry. However, fluorescence detection is limited by the expense of the experimental equipment and by background emissions from most common substrates. In addition, the selectivity of labeled oligonucleotide targets for perfectly complementary probes over those with single base mismatches can be poor, limiting the use of surface hybridization tests for detection of single nucleotide polymorphisms. A detection scheme which improves upon the simplicity, sensitivity and selectivity of fluorescent methods could allow the full potential of combinatorial sequence analysis to be realized.
One such technique is the chip based DNA detection method that employs probes. A probe may use synthetic strands of DNA complementary to specific targets. Attached to the synthetic strands of DNA is a signal mechanism. If the signal is present (i.e., there is a presence of the signal mechanism), then the synthetic strand has bound to DNA in the sample so that one may conclude that the target DNA is in the sample. Likewise, the absence of the signal results (i.e., there is no presence of the signal mechanism) indicates that no target DNA is present in the sample. Thus, a system is needed to reliably detect the signal and accurately report the results.
One example of a signal mechanism is a gold nanoparticle probe with a relatively small diameter (10 to 40 nm), modified with oligonucleotides, to indicate the presence of a particular DNA sequence hybridized on a substrate in a three component sandwich assay format. See U.S. Pat. No. 6,361,944 entitled “Nanoparticles having oligonucleotides attached thereto and uses therefore,” herein incorporated by reference in its entirety; see also T. A. Taton, C. A. Mirkin, R. L. Letsinger, Science, 289, 1757 (2000). The selectivity of these hybridized nanoparticle probes for complementary over mismatched DNA sequences was intrinsically higher than that of fluorophore-labeled probes due to the uniquely sharp dissociation (or “melting”) of the nanoparticles from the surface of the array. In addition, enlarging the array-bound nanoparticles by gold-promoted reduction of silver(I) permitted the arrays to be imaged in black-and-white by a flatbed scanner with greater sensitivity than typically observed by confocal fluorescent imaging of fluorescently labeled gene chips. The scanometric method was successfully applied to DNA mismatch identification.
However, current systems and methods suffer from several deficiencies in terms of complexity, reliably detecting the signal and accurately reporting the results. Prior art systems often times include large optics packages. For example, a typical imaging system may have a camera which is over 2½ feet from the object plane (where the specimen sits). This large distance between the camera and the object plane results in a very large imaging device. Unfortunately, a large imaging system may occupy a significant portion of limited space within a laboratory. In order to meet this compact size requirement, other prior art imaging devices have reduced the distance between the camera and the object plane. While this reduces the size of the system, the small distance between the camera and the object plane can cause a great amount of distortion in the image acquired, with little distortion occurring at the center of the lens and with great distortion occurring around the outer portions of the image acquired. In order to avoid significant distortion and to increase the resolution in the acquired image, the camera is moved (or alternatively the substrate is moved) so that the center of the lens of the camera is at different portions of the substrate. Images are acquired at these different portions of the substrate and subsequently clipped at the images outer regions where the image is distorted. In order to reconstruct the entire image of the substrate, the clipped images are stitched together to form one composite image of the entire substrate. For example, a substrate may be divided into 100 different sections, with 100 images taken where either the camera or the substrate moves so that the center of the lens is centered on each of the 100 different sections. Each of the 100 images is then clipped to save only the image of the specific section. Thereafter, the entire image is reconstructed by pasting each of the 100 images together to form one composite image of the entire substrate. This type of prior art system is very complex in operation and design. Motors to move either the camera or the substrate are required, increasing cost and complexity. Further, because either the substrate or the camera is moving, the system is prone to alignment problems. Finally, because a series of images are taken, acquiring one composite image may take several minutes.
Further, imaging systems require an imaging module in combination with a personal computer. The personal computer includes a standard desktop personal computer device with a processor, memory, monitor, etc. The imaging module includes the camera, substrate holder, controller and memory. The personal computer sends control instructions to the controller of the imaging module and receives the images for processing. Unfortunately, this distributed system is expensive due to the additional cost of the personal computer and large due to the separate space required by personal computer.
Moreover, once the image of the substrate is acquired, there are several difficulties in terms of identifying spots or the wells on the substrate. “Well” is a term used to identify a separate test or experiment on or within the substrate. Each well might contain a different sample or a different test of the same sample. With regard to the spots, prior art systems may have difficulty distinguishing between the background of the substrate and the spots on the substrate. With regard to identifying wells, prior art systems and methods require the operator to identify the regions of the slide in order to identify the well that the imaging system will analyze. However, this requirement of operator input to identify the wells on a slide is inefficient and prone to error.
Further, current systems and methods are unable to detect small concentrations of nanoparticle probes which are under 50 nm (and in particular gold nanoparticle probes). Therefore, the prior art has been forced to use probes which are greater than 50 nm. However, these greater than 50 nm probes are more difficult to use from a processing standpoint. Alternatively, prior art methods have attempted to amplify the nanoparticle probes under 50 nm, such as by using silver particles, in order to compensate for being unable to detect the smaller nanoparticles. However, these attempts to amplify the nanoparticles have proven unworkable. For example, in the case of silver amplification, it has proven difficult to use because it is reactive with light and temperature (creating storage and packaging issues), is fairly expensive and is very difficult to reproduce results accurately. The prior art has thus frequently rejected the use of silver amplification.
Accordingly, the prior art solutions do not solve the problem of detecting nanoparticles in a practical manner.